A typical full bathroom, including a bathtub, normally has the shower head located above the control taps for the tub, and includes a water-impervious curtain on a track or rod, the purpose of which is to prevent shower water from splashing out of the tub enclosure.
The prior art contains some attempts to secure one vertical edge of the shower curtain against the enclosure wall, in order to reduce the risk of splashing.
One conventional means of accomplishing this as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,684, issued Jan. 23, 1968 to Stemke et al. In the Stemke et al patent, individual magnets are incorporated at spaced intervals into the curtain edge, and interact with corresponding members on the wall.
A further pertinent patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,087, issued July 26, 1988 to A. Zeilinger. In this patent, a wall-attachment strip is adhesively bonded to a vertical wall, and a curtain attachment clip adapted to be fastened to an edge of the shower curtain can interlock with the wall attachment strip.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,016, issued Sept. 19, 1961 to S. A. Ridge, shows a means for securing the bottom edge of a shower curtain against a ferromagnetic cast bathtub.
A particularly pertinent patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,741, issued June 17, 1986 to A. L. Payne. In the Payne patent, a C-shaped clip member secures an edge of the curtain to a ferromagnetic member, the latter being adapted to adhere magnetically to a magnetic strip placed on the wall.
A further patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 2,212,326, issued Aug. 20, 1940 to Piken.
The foregoing patents describe structures that are either overly complex, or not capable of providing a neat and secure seal between the curtain and the wall.